Gerard Chilli
Gerard Chilli (Born 1935-died September 12, 2016) was a former New York mobster and capo in the Bonanno crime family. Chilli was a Staten Island based Capo who also controlled operations in Broward County, Florida. Biography Gerard Chilli was born in 1935 in New York City, he joined the Bonanno crime family sometime in his early 20's. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Bonanno crime family until he was promoted to Capo in 1979 following the murder of Carmine Galante. He was identified as a bonanno capo in 1986 by the Federal Government. In the early 1980's, when Chilli was in prison he met a young man named Costabile Farace, who was in prison for killing two teenagers in 1979. Chilli served as a mentor to the young Farace and unofficially "adopted" him by taking Farace under his wing and treating him like a son. Chilli realized he had stepped on a "landmine" when taking Farace under his wing. Farace later caused a lot of trouble and annoyed powerful members of the Bonanno crime family such as Consigliere Anthony Spero for drug dealing. On January 15th 1984 Chilli's 30 year old son Joseph was murdered along with 38 year old Thomas Sbano the stepson of Benjamin Ruggiero. They were found shot inside a convertible in a parking garage on 299 Pearl Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In 1993 Chilli was indicted in Florida on charges of loansharking, extortion, and illegal sports betting. he was released from Prison in June 2002. While in prison the FBI questioned him about his involvement in the murder of Bonanno crime family associate Costabile Farace in September 1989. Farace murdered DEA Agent Everett Hatcher in a botched drug deal and this brought heat on the Bonanno crime family. Consigliere Anthony Spero is alleged to have asked Chilli to arrange the murder of Farace, who was murdered in a drive by shooting by four Bonanno associates in a white van. The FBI couldn't find enough evidence linking Chilli to the murder, so no charges were brought against him. In May 2013, Chilli was arrested in Florida and was sentenced to 18 months in prison for meeting with his fellow wiseguys, a violation of his supervised release. In December 2012 he made a trip to New York and met with various mobsters on multiple occasions. It is alleged that as soon as he stepped off the plane he was met by John Lombardo a Bonanno family associate and then later, after emerging from the terminal, was greeted by Anthony “Fat Anthony” Rabito as the feds watched. Days later Chilli spent two hours at a Queens diner where he again met with Rabito and several other mobsters including the then Bonanno family acting boss Thomas “Tommy D” DiFiore. The following day Chilli once again met with DiFiore and an even larger group of Bonanno mobsters which included many of the families higher ups at the Z2 Lounge for several hours. Finally on January 2, 2013 he met with reputed Bonanno family soldier Joseph Sabella at Bella Mama’s Restaurant in Staten Island which was also the work place of family mobster John “Porky” Zancocchio the ex-son-in-law of powerful captain and one time family consigliere Anthony “TG” Graziano. The sentence was only six months less than the maximum as Chilli promised he would remain in Florida and never return to his old haunts in New York. Death On September 2016, Chilli died at a South Florida hospital from throat cancer. He was 84 years old. Category:Bonnano Crime Family Category:Bonanno Capos Category:Florida Category:Bonnano soldiers Category:Florida Mobsters